Eli Spaulding didn’t have to be asked about the symmetry. It was already on the 20-year-old golfer’s mind.

Spaulding grew up playing at Brunswick Golf Club, where Caleb Manuel turned himself into one of the state’s brightest golf stars. Manuel won three straight Maine Amateur Championships running from 2021-23.

Now, Spaulding gets to try to repeat that feat.

“He’s a pretty close friend of mine. We grew up playing golf together,” he said. “To win three in a row and get a three-peat, it certainly wouldn’t be too bad to follow in his footsteps.”

Spaulding will lead the field at the 107th Maine Amateur, being held at Sanford Country Club from Tuesday through Thursday. He won the event by two strokes at Purpoodock Club in 2024, then defended his title with a four-shot victory at Waterville Country Club last year.

“It (feels) a little different,” he said. “I feel like I have a bit more momentum going into this week, which is helpful just confidence-wise, knowing I can just go into this event and trust my game.

“That being said, it’s still the Maine Amateur. This is my big tournament, to me, on the schedule.”

The 132-player field has plenty of golfers with the games to challenge the champ. Ron Kelton was the runner-up last year and has finished no worse than third the past four years. Luke Ruffing led going into the final round last year.

Mick Madden won a World Series of Junior Golf event in Rhode Island in June, edging fellow Maine Am player Jack Quinn by one shot. Andrew Slattery, the 2014 champion, was the low amateur at the Maine Open.

“Eli’s an amazing player. He’s been killing it recently,” Madden said. “But I’d like to think it’s a pretty even field. There are a lot of really good players.”

Spaulding, a rising junior at Loyola University Maryland, comes in just after closing out an impressive victory. After following his Maine Am title with the New England Amateur championship, he carried his success into this year by winning the Philadelphia Amateur on June 20, prevailing through five match play rounds as the 11th seed.

“The key for me is that I’ve been playing really good, patient golf,” he said. “It’s easy when your game feels so good to come into events with really high expectations for yourself and the result. But my game is at a point, and I’ve been in these scenarios enough, where I just need to let my game come and trust that everything’s where I want it to be.”

That patience will be needed at Sanford, where thin fairways and thick rough make accuracy a must. Spaulding said that can mean keeping driver in the bag in favor of target golf to ensure he’s hitting from comfortable distances.

“You might see a hole that’s 380 yards and you’re like ‘Oh, if I hit driver I’ll have 80 yards in,'” he said. “But I think this course is a little more complicated than that. I’m trying to hit to a certain spot, a certain number that I like.”

Kelton, who was second at even par last year, said the course layout will keep scores in check.

“I don’t expect the scores to be what they kind of have been in the past,” he said. “The fairway I think averages 25 yards wide, and the PGA Tour average fairway is 28. … It’s going to be penalizing if you get out of play, but I think it’ll be playable if you hit good shots. You’ll get rewarded and penalized, which the Maine Am should be.”

Kelton, one of the shorter hitters in the field but also one of the most accurate, said he feels his game is a good match for the course’s layout, which also includes undulating, but receptive, greens.

“I know if I play my game, hitting fairways and hitting greens, that itself is going to make me jump the field,” he said. “I feel good about that. … I think (others) are going to be hitting a lot of irons or some type of woods off the tees, just to try to hit the fairway. If they keep the rough the way it is, you’re not going to be able to score.”

Madden, who won the Class A individual championship last high school season while at Cheverus and qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur in June, tied for third among Maine amateurs with Kelton at the Maine Open, finishing behind Slattery and Ruffing.

“Mentally, I’m way better. I’m kind of more calm on the golf course,” he said. “I’m trying to stay focused on my routine and the process, instead of focusing on results, which is a big deal for me.”